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Join your local beekeeper association and ask one of the member if they nucs on small cell. I think it's more likely that low volume (not the national suppliers like in GA) beeks will have bees on small cell.

It's easy to regress to small cell, especially if you go foundationless and are starting from a nuc. I'd focus on finding a soft chemical nuc from someone nearby, the rest (getting them onto medium and small cell) is easily arranged.

Check out Michael Bush's great site: look under "lazy beekeeping" and under "natural cell size" for info on SC and regression.

My experience has matched what he describes; bees draw comb faster without foundation than with. This makes regression easy, culling easy, and no more messing with foundation. That said, I largely use Mann Lake's PF 120s now 'cuz they're cheap and small cell sized.

Looks like I can get the nucs (even on mediums) from fat beeman! From his site and what he has emailed me it is just what I was looking for. I hope the girls do ok with our winters. Now I have more shopping to do. Hope those catalogs I have ordered arive soon!

I would go for something much more local. Shipping is a killer for your wallet and the bees.

Shipping can be a killer for the bees...

I received two nucs last year that were dead, or nearly dead.

I never walked out of the Post Office with the one...

If you order nucs from Don be sure to have them shipped sooner than later.

You may wish you bought packages and started them on Mann Lake's PF-120's which are SC. Or lock the bees in on some Honey Super Cell . You can buy individual pieces of HSC from Lapp's . You might call Lapp's to ask about a local source of SC bees, or simply some over-wintered nucs.

I ordered 2 nucs on mediums from fatbeeman. So that is Russian hybrids. I hope they make the long shipment. Sometimes you have to listen when the universe starts talking. He really does have what I want and even contacting the people that I was told would be "better" was difficult. My gut said to go with him and when I tried to even think of something else something always got in the way. If it does not work I will try something else.